Hachiman and Kurisu arrived at the "Forest of Sleep" without incident. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by Keiko.
"Hachiman-kun, thank you for coming all this way today," she said.
"Don't mention it. It's part of the job," Hachiman replied. "And this is Makise Kurisu. She's, uh… a total lab freak."
"Okay, that's enough out of you!"
Kurisu promptly reached over and clamped her hand over Hachiman's mouth.
"I dread to think what you were about to say next," she hissed.
"S-sorry," Hachiman mumbled through her fingers. "I couldn't think of a better descriptor."
"There are plenty of others! Honestly..."
"Fine. Let's try again. This is Makise Kurisu, also known as 'KuriGohan and Kamehameha.'"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Kurisu let out a sudden, strangled shriek. Keiko watched them, her expression a mix of confusion and concern, unsure how to react to the outburst.
"H-h-how do you know that name?!" Kurisu stammered, her face turning crimson.
"Huh? When I asked you earlier, you told me yourself. You said it was your handle on @Channel."
"I—I said that?! Out loud?!"
"Yeah. I'll probably go look up your post history later. Thanks for the tip, by the way."
"Wait, wait just a minute! That was a mistake! A total lapse in judgment!"
"Is a researcher really allowed to lie like that?"
"Ugh..."
Kurisu fell into a frustrated silence. Watching the two of them, Keiko offered a soft smile.
"You two really are close, aren't you?"
"W-well, I wouldn't say... I mean, I suppose we get along well enough," Kurisu muttered.
"It's simple for me," Hachiman added. "She has absolutely no romantic feelings for me, which makes being around her incredibly easy. I don't have to walk on eggshells, in a good way. I'm actually really grateful to have Kurisu around."
Kurisu looked taken aback by Hachiman's blunt praise.
"Wait, Hachiman... do you have a fever or something?"
"Hey, I finally say something nice and that's the reaction I get?"
"Hehe, sorry. I was just surprised."
"By what?"
Kurisu looked him dead in the eye. "I always pegged you as the 'Alone in All the World' type—a guy who doesn't care about anyone else's feelings."
"What are you talking about? No one is more meticulously considerate than I am. Right, Keiko-san?"
Keiko agreed without a second thought. "That's true. He might not look it, but Hachiman-kun is incredibly attentive to the little things."
"Is that so?" Kurisu asked.
"Yes. I think you'll start to see it the longer you're with him."
"I see... then I'll try to look at him with a more long-term perspective."
"Please do."
They were led into the room housing the MediCuboid. Two young girls lay there, motionless. Hachiman gazed at them with a look of deep concern.
"How are Ai and Yuu doing?"
"Well," Keiko sighed, "they aren't better, but they aren't worse. They're in a state of equilibrium. If a better medication is developed, then perhaps... even if we can't cure them, we might be able to let them live a normal life."
At the sound of their voices, Meguri approached from the back of the room.
"Hachiman-kun!"
"Ah, Megu... Megurin."
"Megurin?!" Kurisu's ears perked up. She turned to Meguri with a shocked expression. "Is that what he calls you?"
"Mm-hmm! I asked him to call me that. Though it seems Hachiman-kun isn't quite used to it yet."
"I see..."
"It's like how he calls you 'Christina'—oh, wait, that's a bit different, isn't it?"
Hachiman smirked. "Don't call me -tina."
Meguri burst out laughing. "Hachiman-kun, what was that?"
"Apparently, that's what Kurisu says every time Kyoma calls her that. I thought I'd try the impression."
"Kyoma?"
"Ah, sorry. He's a friend of mine. And Kurisu's boyfriend."
Kurisu's face turned an even deeper shade of red. "W-w-what kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"
"You're shaking, you know..."
"I am not shaking!"
"Right, right. Anyway, shall we get to work?"
"Ah... r-right. Let's."
Guided by Meguri, Kurisu began receiving a briefing from the technicians. True to her reputation as a genius, she seemed to grasp ten points of information for every one they gave her.
"She's amazing, isn't she? Makise-san," Keiko whispered.
"Yeah. Honestly, she might be the most brilliant person I've ever met," Hachiman replied. "My sister and Yukino are impressive, but her talent is... it's almost supernatural. It's terrifying."
"That high of an evaluation, then?"
"If her specialty had been medicine, I can't help but wonder... if she were in that field, maybe their condition would already be a thing of the past. It's a bit of a shame."
"You really think highly of her."
"Yeah. She feels fundamentally different from the rest of us. In a different way than Asuna, she's the friend I trust most right now."
"Hehe. I'm glad you found someone like her."
"Yeah. Me too."
Meanwhile, Kurisu was internally reeling as she began to decode the system.
(What is this...? Even for me, there are so many incomprehensible parts. Akihiko Kayaba... I have to meet him.)
The desire to meet the creator of this technology grew stronger within her by the day. Soon, Rinko arrived as well, and Kurisu threw herself into satisfying her intellectual curiosity.
"I see. So that's how it works."
"Yes. But you're incredible, Kurisu. To understand this much at your age... it's like looking at a young Akihiko."
"Dr. Koujirou..."
Rinko smiled warmly. "Rinko is fine."
It seemed Rinko had taken a liking to her as well.
"Then, Rinko-san, were you a classmate of Akihiko Kayaba?"
"We were in the same seminar, you could say."
"What was he like?"
"Elusive. Hard to pin down. And yet, the only person he ever took a genuine liking to was Hachiman-kun."
"Really?"
Kurisu stole a glance at Hachiman.
(Tonight, I'll ask him more about SAO. Hopefully with the three of us.)
Kurisu was planning to stay at Asuna's place again tonight. Asuna had promised to whip up a lavish home-cooked meal since they had the time. Between the information she wanted and the food she was expecting, Kurisu was genuinely looking forward to the evening.
"Well, I'm going to go see those two," Hachiman announced.
"Oh, you can talk to them from outside now," Keiko noted. "We had 'that' installed here too."
Hachiman walked over to a familiar machine and activated the terminal. Kurisu, curious, followed him. Hachiman called the internal server, and two girls immediately appeared on the screen.
"Ah! It's Hachiman!"
"Hachiman, you came!"
"Yeah. I'm going to dive in now. But don't you two go getting any weird ideas. Seriously! Especially you, Ai."
"How cruel..." Ai pouted. "What happened to the 'burning passion' we shared that day?"
"Where do you even get this stuff? Internet again, I bet. You're as much of a 'premature expert' as ever."
"Ugh... we finally meet and that's the first thing you say?"
"Unlike Yuu, I can't let my guard down around you."
"Geez, just hurry up and get in here. We've been waiting!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming."
The transmission cut out. Kurisu looked at Hachiman, completely exasperated.
"...What was that conversation just now?"
"They keep insisting they're going to be my mistresses. They're a handful."
"M-m-mistresses?!" Kurisu blurted out, her cheeks flushing.
"See? That's why your presence is so valuable. I don't have to worry about stuff like that when I talk to you."
"...I'd appreciate it if you worried about my feelings a little bit, though?"
"Bad phrasing. I meant it's a relief. Anyway, I'm going in for a bit."
"Wait."
Kurisu looked between the two girls lying in the MediCuboids and the images that had been on the monitor.
"Tell them... I was only going to be an advisor at first, but I've decided to get more actively involved. Tell them that someday, we're all going to walk through the city together."
Hachiman paused, then reached out and placed a hand on Kurisu's head.
"W-what are you doing all of a sudden?" Kurisu stammered, her voice jumping an octave.
"I'll tell them. Thanks, Kurisu. Really."
He ruffled her hair gently. Kurisu didn't pull away, though she huffed and looked aside.
"I—it's not for your sake, okay?! It's for those girls!"
"Right. See you in a bit."
"Yeah."
Hachiman logged in from the terminal in the adjacent room. Rinko struck up a conversation with Kurisu, who was still staring at the door.
"You've only known him a short time, right? What do you think of him?"
"He's a strange one," Kurisu replied.
She paused, then added, "I don't mean that as an insult. Talking to him is stimulating. And... though it sounds a bit cold to put it this way, he's the perfect patron."
"My, you're quite perceptive for your age."
"Well, I know better than anyone that securing research funding isn't easy..."
Rinko nodded in profound agreement. "In that regard, he's the best. Though, he does expect results."
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